Fuse boxes



Dec. 10, 1957 w. STASKOWSKI 2,816,194

FUSE BOXES Filed June 4, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet' 1 I I I I I I I (I L J: 5 J T S INVENTOR. 1mm Wmu United States Patent FUSE BOXES Walter Staskowski, Detroit, Mich.

Application June 4, 1956, Serial No. 589,178

8 Claims. (Cl. 200--133) This invention relates to fuse boxes and more particularly to holders forming part of a fuse box for gripping the knife blades of fuses and for quickly releasing and quickly tightening the fuse blades into position.

It is an object of this invention to form a fuse box having aligned and spaced fuse holders wherein the opposite knife blades of a fuse may be grasped and tightly held by the pair of holders and wherein rotation of handles in one direction tightens the fuse blades into place, and rotation in the opposite direction releases the grip on the blades so that the fuse may be quickly removed and replaced.

A further object of this invention is to form an economical fuse box holder wherein a single combined bolt and handle unit functions to position, hold, and release and grip the knife blade of a fuse against a contact flange.

These and other objects of my invention will become apparent upon reading the following description of which the drawings form a part.

Referring to these drawings, it will be clear that:

Fig. 1 shows a fuse box to small scale in vertical elevation;

Fig. 2 shows the interior of a fuse box with two holders arranged therein and a fuse secured in the fuse box by the holders;

Fig. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrow 3-3 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 shows a holder, per se;

Fig. 5 is a view of a fuse, per se; and

Fig. 6 shows a modification, in a view like Fig. 3.

Fig. 1 shows a wall mounted fuse box 1 having a mounting plate 2 mounting three pairs of fuse holders 10. Each pair of holders 10 mounts a cartridge fuse 11 having a fuse body 12 and knife blades 13 having notches 14.

Each fuse holder is formed of a pair of steel and copper angles and 21, formed with adjacent steel and copper flanges 2223 and bases 24 and 25. Base 24 is secured to plate 2 by bolts 27 extending through apertures 28. Base is normally not secured to the panel, and to it a terminal connector 30 is connected by bolt 32. To the connector 30 an electrical conductor 31 may be secured.

An elongated bolt 35 is inserted through apertures 37 and 37a which are formed in the central portion approximately of each of the flanges 22 and 23. A head 38, such as a nut pinned to the bolt, is provided on one end of the elongated bolt and a washer 39 may also be provided as a force distribution surface. The aperture 37 is a clear hole, but the aperture 37a is normally threaded internally whereupon a threaded portion 41 of the bolt threadedly engages the thread inside of aperture 37a. The bolt is further extended and the end portion of the bolt is bent into a handle 42 which is arranged substantially in a plane parallel to the planes of the flanges 22 and 23.

Thus, rotating the handle 42 results in moving the threaded portion 41 of the bolt through the threaded portion of the aperture 37a and drawing the head 38 towards the copper flange 23, to clamp blade 13 against flange 23.

2,816,194 Patented Dec. 10, 1957 ice The thread 41 and the internal thread inside of aperture 37a are quite coarse so that less than one full revolution of the handle 42 is required to move the bolt head 38 towards flange 23 close enough together to tightly grip the knife blade 13 or on the other hand to release knife blade 13 for removal of the fuse.

In installation, the notched portion 14 of the knife blade 13 fits around the bolt 35 as is shown for example in Fig. 3. This results in a greater area of electrical contact and prevents the fuse from slipping end-wise relative to the holders 10.

In normal installation, the fuse box plate 1 is arranged in a substantially vertical plane. In such type installation, the thread 41 is so arranged that when the handle is in its down position as shown in Fig. 2, the fuse blade is tightly gripped between bolt head 38 and the flange 23. On the other hand, when the handle is moved into an upwardly pointing position the bolt head 38 and the flange 23 are sufficiently separated to remove the fuse. The result of this construction is that gravity assists in tightening the clamp and the handle functions as an indicator, so that when the handle is in its up position it clearly indicates that the fuse is not tightly gripped. The electrical repair man who removes and replaces fuses thus knows that the handle must be downward and normally more or less in contact with the plate 1 in order to have a tight connection between the fuse blades and the respective flanges 23. Steel flange 22 may be replaced by a thick internally threaded steel washer 122 non-removably secured to the copper flange 23, as shown in Fig. 6, as by pins 122a. Blade 13 may be any blade, the blade of a fuse, of an electronic tube, or a strap, as desired.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following attached claims and accordingly it is desired that the foregoing description be read as an illustrative embodiment of my invention and not in a strictly limiting sense.

Having fully described an operative embodiment of my invention, I now claim:

1. A holder for an electrical conductor blade comprising a pair of adjacent parallel flanges disposed in face to face contact with no space between them, one flange being of steel and the other of copper, a face formed on one of the flanges for attaching that one flange to a supporting surface, the flanges having alined central apertures, with the aperture in the steel flange being internally threaded, a headed bolt fitted through the apertures and threaded in said threaded aperture and extending beyond said threaded aperture and terminating in a handle arranged substantially parallel to the planes of the flanges, said bolt having a head on the end thereof projected through the unthreaded copper flange aperture, with such head being spaced a considerable distance from the copper flange whereby rotation of the handle in one direction causes the bolt head to move toward the copper flange to clamp a blade against such flange and rotation in the opposite direction releases the grip of the bolt head on the blade.

2. A holder as defined in claim 1 wherein said handle is formed by bending the end portion of the bolt substantially in a plane parallel to the planes of the flanges.

3. A holder as defined in claim 1 wherein the thread of the bolt is sufliciently coarse so that rotation of the handle degrees moves the bolt head sufficiently, either to tightly clamp the blade or release the blade.

4. A holder as defined in claim 2 wherein the holder is mounted on a substantially vertical support panel and wherein when the handle is rotated into a downward position the blade is tightly clamped and when the handle is rotated into an upward position, the blade is released.

5. A holder as defined in claim 1 including means for electrically connecting the holder into an electrical circuit.

6. A fuse box having a pair of alined and spaced fuse holders, each holder comprising two adjacent parallel flanges, disposed in face to face contact with no space between them, one flange being of steel and the other of copper, one of the flanges having a base formed thereon for attachment to a support panel, and means for connecting the flanges into an electrical circuit, the flanges having alined central apertures, with the aperture in the steel flange being internally threaded, an elongated headed bolt having a coarse thread formed thereon inserted through the apertures and threaded in said threaded aperture, the bolt terminating in a handle formed by bending the end portion of the bolt into a plane substantially parallel to the planes of the flanges, said bolt having a head on the end thereof projected through the unthreaded copper flange aperture, with such head being spaced a considerable distance from the copper flange and whereby rotation of the handle in one direction causes the bolt head to move toward the unthreaded flange to clamp the blade of a fuse against such flange and rotation in the opposite direction releases the grip of the bolt head on the fuse blade.

7. A fuse box as defined in claim 6 wherein said bases are attached to a substantially vertical support panel and wherein the threads are sufliciently coarse so that when the handles are pointed downwardly the bolt head of each holder is moved towards the unthreaded flange sufliciently to clamp a fuse blade against it and when the handles are pointed upwardly the grip on the blades is released.

8. A fuse box as defined in claim 6 wherein a fuse having alined end blades is arranged between the holders and said blades each being notched at their ends for insertion between the respective bolt heads and flanges with the notched portion enveloping the bolt portion between the bolt heads and flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

